Beyond the Binary: Reconstructing the Self in Naina Menon’s Memoir

Abstract

Amidst the discussions on identity and individuality, the question of gender identity has been in much discussion in the recent decades. After Judith Butler’s analyses on gender performativity in her work Gender Trouble, the very fluidity of gender as a category has come to the fore. With the publication of Queer literature and the understanding of the wide spectrum of gender identities, the LGBTQIA++ communities have begun embracing their true selves and publicly asserting their identities. The Pride Parades, Marches, various activist events organized by them and supported by other NGO’s are all attempts to sensitize the society of the needs and rights of the hitherto marginalized community for a life of dignity. These developments have further led to many of this community to open up their private lives which were hidden for the fear of social censure, and expose their inner urges and desires in the form of autobiographies and memoirs. A proliferation of the life narratives of these marginalized communities has definitely unraveled their traumatic realities. It is in this backdrop of an urgent need of comprehending the repressive repercussions of their stigmatized existences owing to their inability to fit into the binaries of masculine and feminine genders, that this paper is a close-reading of Naina Menon’s memoir titled Birthing Me: Memoirs of a Transwoman in order to analyse the typical problems of being a ‘transwoman’ in the contemporary Indian society. It presents Naina’s bold transformation not only in the literal sense of redefining her identity but also in claiming her space as a pilot, in the field of Aviation, which traditionally hasn’t been welcoming to women, much less transwomen. The insights gained from the memoir would help forge an egalitarian and inclusive society for all as envisioned in our constitution.